I wish to replace carpeting with hardwood flooring, about 300 sf total. What is the best option: do-it-yourself, hire a contractor or through a bix-box chain (ie: Home Depot)?
this depends on who you are. i have done flooring and it is a lot of work. i'd do it again because i'm kind of stubborn that way.
if you:
1. don't really know what you're doing (floating on conc? sleepers? floor framing? what kind of sander? THEN what kind of sander? ...?)
2. spend more time taking breaks than working (hey! pizza's here!)
3. like to keep your carhartts clean
...don't do it.
sounds like i'm being facetious, but you really have to know that you can follow through.
i'm assuming you're talking about real t&g wood flooring, not the click-in-place stuff. unless you get prefinished, you're in for a lot of sanding and a lot of hands-and-knees finishing. but it's much better than prefinished, imo.
if you're into this kind of thing, finishing it gives a good feeling of personal satisfaction when you're done. if you're not, it could be torture.
ps. the big-box chains just hire a contractor most of the time.
oh man old fogey, that's a rad idea! ha ha. the old industrial buildings around there are my dream, i drive past them all the time and try to peer in the windows.
also, flooring is a bitch. once you've managed to get it all in you still have to rent a clunky fucking floor sander, do a good job of getting it all evenly sanded, then put 3 coats of finish on...
just HIRE someone. I hate seeing people waste tons of time (and eventually, even more money than they would have had they contracted) just to fuck up their house in the end. leave it to the professionals, in almost EVERY case (ie, unless you are an architect w/ no money, tons of time, and an extreme dedication to craft and d.i.y.)
If your doing over wood frame. Than you could go with a unfinished flooring. For a rustic appearance the range of possible material is pretty broad. Yellow pine, oak, hickory, cypress, pine, doug-fir. For a sleek modern appearance it's going to drive up the material cost. Cherry, bamboo, jatoba, mahogany, Since the rustic appearance won't require an absolute prefect fit and finish. Almost barn like if you will. Prefinished floors aren't to bad. I used a 3 inch wide oak with a real dark stain from Bruce. It was 3/8" thick and I stapled it down. I had never layed a floor down before and it came really good. I put it down 6 yrs ago and no problems except since it's in my kitchen and the abuse is pretty high so....the finish has suffered a bit but it still looks good. I wanted to get it to look like a traditional strip oak floor that was finished in place. So no funny little groove at the joints of the individual planks. In section the stuff looks like plywood with the top layer being about a 1/16" of finish wood. The tough part of putting down a unfinished floor is sanding. Especially it you want it to look perfect. I work on alot of older houses and the owners like the look of an old floor thats beaten up and gaps aren't a problem. And usually they face nail the flooring with cut nails as part of the look. That kind of floor could be done without alot of experience.
The material will cost you about 1/3 of the total cost and the labor will make up for the other 2/3.
If you do it yourself may I offer a few tips:
1. Do not yuse the clip system. It is way too time consuming to do and if you make a mistake it is extremely difficult to fix.
2. I would recommend an engineered floor rather than a typical laminated floor.
3. After you rip out the carpet, remove the base boards.
4. Let the wood sit in the space for about 24 hours so it can expand and contract with the envionment. You dont want to put it in and a few days later have it expand and buckle.
5. After that, put a 1x1 along the edge of the wall all the way around the perimeter and square it up in the corners. This will allow minimum cutting and if your wals are in fact parallel then you will not have a angled floor.
6. Alternate the pattern so you do not get visible seams.
7. After you finish putting down the flooring, replace the base boards. If you are going to use wood base boards that match the flooring, get them from the same manufacturer. Wood floors lighten over the years and you want the base boards the same color.
I am using pre-finished, rustic-looking 3/4" thick Bruce flooring (as Studio43 has described). There are two rooms, one hallway (with an angled wall) and some closets to be done. The flooring would be set on whatever sub-floor is under the carpeting. What tools are needed for DIY? I figure a nail-gun for the initial boards, a power saw for cutting; anything else?
Sorry, Steven Ward. :) I just meant that typically only people who really care about learning by doing, enjoy painstaking, back-breaking work to produce a high quality product, and usually also want to save money and are willing to sacrifice things like living in an unfinished house for a looooong time and working on it on your off-hours should take on a project like that. I probably shouldn't have worded it negatively. It's just that in my experience the person who has the patience, time, and, frankly, craft skills to do it right is a rare person indeed.
So, Steven Ward, you are a rare jewel in a sea of dross.
...That being said, I can't wait to own a place so I can start mucking around with it myself. ;) But I believe the average homeowner doesn't know what he's getting himself into when he takes on building projects himself, and it causes much more trouble and headache down the road.
Home Depot has 4" South American Cherry on sale for around $5.00
a square foot, finished. It sure beats the heck out of sanding. But be sure to follow installation instructions. It will cup as will most hardwoods if they are not installed properly. Also once you have it in place be careful about water on the floor. It also will make it cup and
it don't come back once it blows out. This is even more evident in any hardwood board with any width to it.
Mar 22, 06 7:33 pm ·
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installing hardwood flooring
I wish to replace carpeting with hardwood flooring, about 300 sf total. What is the best option: do-it-yourself, hire a contractor or through a bix-box chain (ie: Home Depot)?
Do it yourself.
300 sf is not that much and you can save a ton of money doing it yourself.
this depends on who you are. i have done flooring and it is a lot of work. i'd do it again because i'm kind of stubborn that way.
if you:
1. don't really know what you're doing (floating on conc? sleepers? floor framing? what kind of sander? THEN what kind of sander? ...?)
2. spend more time taking breaks than working (hey! pizza's here!)
3. like to keep your carhartts clean
...don't do it.
sounds like i'm being facetious, but you really have to know that you can follow through.
i'm assuming you're talking about real t&g wood flooring, not the click-in-place stuff. unless you get prefinished, you're in for a lot of sanding and a lot of hands-and-knees finishing. but it's much better than prefinished, imo.
if you're into this kind of thing, finishing it gives a good feeling of personal satisfaction when you're done. if you're not, it could be torture.
ps. the big-box chains just hire a contractor most of the time.
oh man old fogey, that's a rad idea! ha ha. the old industrial buildings around there are my dream, i drive past them all the time and try to peer in the windows.
also, flooring is a bitch. once you've managed to get it all in you still have to rent a clunky fucking floor sander, do a good job of getting it all evenly sanded, then put 3 coats of finish on...
just HIRE someone. I hate seeing people waste tons of time (and eventually, even more money than they would have had they contracted) just to fuck up their house in the end. leave it to the professionals, in almost EVERY case (ie, unless you are an architect w/ no money, tons of time, and an extreme dedication to craft and d.i.y.)
um, i resemble that remark?
Steven
If your doing over wood frame. Than you could go with a unfinished flooring. For a rustic appearance the range of possible material is pretty broad. Yellow pine, oak, hickory, cypress, pine, doug-fir. For a sleek modern appearance it's going to drive up the material cost. Cherry, bamboo, jatoba, mahogany, Since the rustic appearance won't require an absolute prefect fit and finish. Almost barn like if you will. Prefinished floors aren't to bad. I used a 3 inch wide oak with a real dark stain from Bruce. It was 3/8" thick and I stapled it down. I had never layed a floor down before and it came really good. I put it down 6 yrs ago and no problems except since it's in my kitchen and the abuse is pretty high so....the finish has suffered a bit but it still looks good. I wanted to get it to look like a traditional strip oak floor that was finished in place. So no funny little groove at the joints of the individual planks. In section the stuff looks like plywood with the top layer being about a 1/16" of finish wood. The tough part of putting down a unfinished floor is sanding. Especially it you want it to look perfect. I work on alot of older houses and the owners like the look of an old floor thats beaten up and gaps aren't a problem. And usually they face nail the flooring with cut nails as part of the look. That kind of floor could be done without alot of experience.
The material will cost you about 1/3 of the total cost and the labor will make up for the other 2/3.
If you do it yourself may I offer a few tips:
1. Do not yuse the clip system. It is way too time consuming to do and if you make a mistake it is extremely difficult to fix.
2. I would recommend an engineered floor rather than a typical laminated floor.
3. After you rip out the carpet, remove the base boards.
4. Let the wood sit in the space for about 24 hours so it can expand and contract with the envionment. You dont want to put it in and a few days later have it expand and buckle.
5. After that, put a 1x1 along the edge of the wall all the way around the perimeter and square it up in the corners. This will allow minimum cutting and if your wals are in fact parallel then you will not have a angled floor.
6. Alternate the pattern so you do not get visible seams.
7. After you finish putting down the flooring, replace the base boards. If you are going to use wood base boards that match the flooring, get them from the same manufacturer. Wood floors lighten over the years and you want the base boards the same color.
8. Make sure you buy a good pair of knee pads.
300 sq ft is so small, do it yourself. If you totally screw it up it's a cheap room to learn on. If you do it perfect, kudos to you.
I am using pre-finished, rustic-looking 3/4" thick Bruce flooring (as Studio43 has described). There are two rooms, one hallway (with an angled wall) and some closets to be done. The flooring would be set on whatever sub-floor is under the carpeting. What tools are needed for DIY? I figure a nail-gun for the initial boards, a power saw for cutting; anything else?
Sorry, Steven Ward. :) I just meant that typically only people who really care about learning by doing, enjoy painstaking, back-breaking work to produce a high quality product, and usually also want to save money and are willing to sacrifice things like living in an unfinished house for a looooong time and working on it on your off-hours should take on a project like that. I probably shouldn't have worded it negatively. It's just that in my experience the person who has the patience, time, and, frankly, craft skills to do it right is a rare person indeed.
So, Steven Ward, you are a rare jewel in a sea of dross.
...That being said, I can't wait to own a place so I can start mucking around with it myself. ;) But I believe the average homeowner doesn't know what he's getting himself into when he takes on building projects himself, and it causes much more trouble and headache down the road.
no offense taken. i was smiling.
Home Depot has 4" South American Cherry on sale for around $5.00
a square foot, finished. It sure beats the heck out of sanding. But be sure to follow installation instructions. It will cup as will most hardwoods if they are not installed properly. Also once you have it in place be careful about water on the floor. It also will make it cup and
it don't come back once it blows out. This is even more evident in any hardwood board with any width to it.
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